


persephone’s tale

by poesword



Category: Ancient Greek Religion & Lore, Original Work, is that actually a fandom andnsj
Genre: F/M, Inspired by Hades and Persephone (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore), Monologue, i had no business being this descriptive in 8th grade, inspired by la danse macabre by camille saint-saëns, like wtf did i expect to get an award for this or smth?, not to brag tho i did get the drama award at grad that year, prose, set to classical music, so much prose, so...i really peaked at 14 huh, this was my grade 8 drama exam monologue bear with me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-25
Updated: 2019-08-25
Packaged: 2020-09-26 01:35:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20381524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/poesword/pseuds/poesword
Summary: an wildly alternate retelling of hades and persephone, but now it’s a genuine tragedy. with lore!





	persephone’s tale

**Author's Note:**

> my grade 8 drama exam was being given a book of fictional locations, flipping to a random page and pointing blindly, and wherever we had pointed at was the setting of our monologues. we had to come up with a character that would fit the location and be a navigation guide, explain how to get to the location and our own backstories within the piece, and set it to a piece of music. 
> 
> i got tartarus. it got out of hand from there.

Welcome, traveller. You have reached the final destination, my humble home...and prison: Tartarus.

I'll give you a word of advice, traveller: turn back. Resume your mundane life and welcome your end when it's the right time. Do not throw away your freedom to pursue the childish possibility of great awe.

...Why will you not go? Must I frighten you with the tales of the lost? Those who disregard my caution and continue forth? Must I relive my inadequacy so you could save yourself?

My...how peculiar. You hesitate at the entrance of life's secrets. You wish to witness greatness as it shrivels in agony, and yet, you do not. You wish to turn your back on your curiosity and rejoin the familiar, and yet, you do not. You are infuriatingly indecisive, traveller.

No matter, such a flaw is only human. Join me, if only for a short duration. I will tell you the tale of Persephone while you make up your mind.

You know of the gods, traveller? Surely, you must, or you would've never been able to venture to this place. You'd need to be guided by the divine energy of a deity of your choice, how could I forget?

Hades, the lord of death, was greatly feared in Persephone's time. It was in the kingdom of Lillar that Hades took one of his rare excursions into the mortal world. The king and queen of Lillar threw a festival to pay a frightened tribute to the haunting god. However, Hades preferred the silent dead to the rowdy living.

[Sometimes, I worry if being with the dead for so long has made him yearn to become a phantom, himself...]

The night of the masquerade ball, Persephone, the beloved and cherished princess of Lillar, had been wandering the corridors of the palace, following the sounds of a fiddle as it shouted anguish off of the stone walls.

The music led her to the courtyard, where she watched a cloaked man and his thunderstruck fiddle performing for the inky, black sky from the top of the ivory fountain.

Persephone could feel his fright as it bled from the fiddle's strings. She understood the unspoken language the hooded Hades had been speaking.

It seemed that before Persephone could take a breath, he was already setting down the fiddle and staring up at the night sky. She had emerged from the arched doorway, applauding him. Startled, he had slipped off the fountain and fell on the grass.

It was at that moment, when their eyes met, that a fatal curse was marked on Persephone's heart.

You see, Traveller, the great deities had to give up something to become gods and goddesses. That something...was their soulmates. Every time they met one of their soulmates, that person would perish in a tragic death orchestrated by the three Fates.

It just so happened that Persephone would fall prey to this cruel act of destiny.

Hades offered her a pomegranate seed as a sign of peace. They sat in the courtyard until the sun peeked out from behind the hills, falling in love and conversing until their voices went hoarse.

It was not long after that the kingdom learned of the two's predicament. They forced Hades out of the kingdom, fearing what would become of Persephone if she and Hades were kept together. Hades pleaded and begged them to let them be together, but they held onto their word like an iron clad fist.

One thing came after another and soon, the King declared war on Hades, and the Queen locked Persephone in a tower, far above the battle that raged through the kingdom.

Days and weeks passed, the battle only grew louder and louder the closer Hades came to her and her prison.

After over a month of fighting, Persephone could see Hades at the edge of the horizon, inching closer with every elated beat of her heart.

He arrived at the foot of the tower, smiling up at her. Perhaps they would have a happily ever after.

But Persephone heard footsteps behind her, she turned to see three ancient women, brows furrowed in apology. The woman in the middle stepped forward and stabbed her right in the heart, whispering a goodbye as she pushed Persephone out of the tower's window and into Hades' arms.

Hades was devastated. He wept over her body, shouting for her to come back, stay with him, don't be dead and gone.

Traveller, you look very confused. Did I not tell you that the deity and their soulmate would be separated, even in death?

The three fates bound her soul to the castle ruins of Lillar, trapped in the courtyard for eons and thereafter, guarding the entrance of the Underworld's depths. They felt it fitting that she would be there to advise seekers of knowledge on the devastating question: power...and knowledge or soulmates...and family?

Persephone is still stuck at this gate, her memories distorted and fleeting, regretting and cherishing every decision she made that night. She and Hades are kept apart by a boundary not even the Fates can dissolve.

[Traveller, I no longer remember what my love looks like, if his eyes sparkle or glint, if his voice is low and gravelly or steady and sharp, but...but I will never forget the language of his music.]

What's this? A pomegranate! Tell him I said "thank you." Do that for me, dear traveller?


End file.
